What is Stripe’s Ambition?
On June 12, American payment processor Stripe announced the acquisition of the cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure company Privy, which will be integrated into Stripe but will continue to operate as an independent product. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, with specific terms of the deal yet to be disclosed.
What Makes Privy Different?
Privy’s embedded wallet allows developers to create a simpler onboarding experience, enabling users to create cryptocurrency wallets without memorizing or recording seed phrases. Additionally, Privy allows users to hold assets or perform actions directly within supported crypto applications without needing to connect to third-party wallets like MetaMask for transactions. For example, OpenSea uses Privy, allowing customers to purchase NFTs directly from its platform. Privy creates a wallet in the background for consumers, facilitating their purchases. Before this partnership, OpenSea customers needed to create an external wallet through providers like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet and link it to their accounts.
Henri Stern, co-founder and CEO of Privy, stated in a press release: “When we first started, the wallet was powerful, but it was only usable by those with technical expertise. Developers had to direct users outside of the platform to get started, disrupting the user flow and hindering user conversion. This friction fundamentally limits the future development of the crypto space.” Headquartered in New York, Privy was co-founded by Stern and Asta Li, who was a founding engineer at Aurora before establishing Privy. Stern previously worked as a researcher at the Web3 company Protocol Labs. Founded in 2021, the startup recently raised $15 million in a funding round led by Ribbit Capital, bringing its total funding to over $40 million. Other investors include Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, BlueYard, and Coinbase Ventures. According to Pitchbook data, Privy’s latest valuation in March of this year was $230 million.
Privy claims that within three years, its technology has been widely adopted across the industry, supporting over 75 million accounts and 1,000 development teams, including mainstream crypto applications such as Pump.fun, Hyperliquid, OpenSea, as well as restaurant loyalty program startup Blackbird and global recruitment company Toku.
Regarding the acquisition of Privy, Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, stated in a press release: “We are thrilled to connect Privy’s wallet with the funding flow capabilities of Stripe and Bridge through a unified platform, enabling a new generation of global internet-native financial services.”
Stripe’s Crypto Journey
Stripe’s foray into cryptocurrency began in 2014. Stripe was one of the first payment companies to accept Bitcoin in 2014 but halted the service in 2018 due to scalability issues and high transaction fees. Despite this, the company insisted at the time that it was “very optimistic about the overall prospects of cryptocurrencies.”
Stablecoins are Stripe’s next attempt. In April 2024, the company announced it would support stablecoin USDC payments this summer. Subsequently, in October, Stripe launched the public beta feature “Pay with Crypto,” allowing U.S. businesses to accept payments in stablecoins and automatically convert them to fiat currency in their Stripe accounts. Supported stablecoins include USDC and USDP, covering Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon chains. In the first week of launching stablecoin payments, Stripe’s stablecoin transaction volume surpassed its entire history of Bitcoin transactions.
However, Stripe still lacked a critical component, needing a seamless way to handle cross-border transactions. In November 2024, Stripe confirmed its acquisition of the stablecoin payment platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, a deal that was ultimately completed in February 2025. This is Stripe’s largest acquisition to date, marking a significant move in the stablecoin space. The acquisition of Bridge enables Stripe to optimize cross-border payment solutions and expand stablecoin payment infrastructure.
In May 2025, Stripe launched stablecoin accounts in over 100 countries, aimed at helping merchants hold funds and pay overseas suppliers using USDC from Circle Internet Group Inc. and USDB, a stablecoin issued by Bridge itself.
A series of actions from Stripe indicates that the company intends to become the preferred provider for clients looking to increase support for crypto products or launch their own crypto products, as companies from large tech firms to traditional banks are showing strong interest in exploring cryptocurrency technology.